An East Hartford couple who fought for their country, and ever since have been fighting to overcome their personal demons, got more than help Saturday. Twenty volunteers – from Glastonbury Rotary, electricians, carpenters union members and tradesmen – descended on their Copper Beech Way home to hammer, saw, drill, sand and plant.
House of Heroes Connecticut, based in Hamden, organized “Make A Difference in a Day” April 24 for veterans Amorette and Joshua Hight. Both come from military families, Amorette was born in Oklahoma and Joshua in Arizona. Both grew up in Connecticut before entering the service, Amorette in the U.S. Navy from 1997 to 2001 and Joshua in the U. S. Army from 1996-2003 and CT National Guard from 1992-96. Amorette, from Portland, served as an aviation ordinanceman aboard the USS John F. Kennedy and two years at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. Joshua, from Farmington, transferred from the CT National Guard after four years to active duty in 1996 where he was a UH-1 helicopter mechanic at Ft. Riley, Kansas, then in Korea and at Ft. Drum in New York. He was honorably discharged in 2003.
But their years in the service left both with PTSD, Amorette from a sexual assault while serving, and Joshua from mental trauma while assigned to MEDIVAC units, then the substance abuse that followed. They met in 2010 while both were undergoing treatment at the North Haven VA, married in 2013 and now openly discuss their personal challenges with the hope of letting other vets know it is OK to turn to the VA for help.
The Hights, who went through homelessness, both got back into the workplace and found a home in East Hartford 5 years ago. Amorette, who works as a care coordinator for the VA, and Joshua, an aircraft mechanic with Innodyne Systems in Bloomfield, also care for an adult son with a disability. Their home was the first one built as the model when the Copper Beech Way cul-de-sac off Silver Lane was built in 1992. But the house was in dire need. Walls needed to be patched, the casement kitchen window was broken, the small set of steps outside the back door were rotten, and the flooring had worn through in areas.
“The list of things I had to do was long, and it was getting longer and longer,” chuckled Joshua. Three years ago the couple attended a Vets Rock event in Wallingford where they happened by the House of Heroes display table. They registered. Then the surprise call came that they had been chosen for assistance. What arrived Saturday was a small army of workers. Samantha Taylor, Chief Operations Officer for House of Heroes, was on site. Inside, volunteers went to work. That kitchen window was replaced, a new exhaust fan was installed in the bathroom, wood flooring was repaired and replaced. Volunteer Robert Clark was busy patching the wall, electrician Chris Daigle of Daigle Electric screwed in the new GFI plug and switch in the bathroom, and volunteer Glaucos Zanetti sanded away. Out front, new plantings, mulch looked ship-shape and out back the steps were solid, capped with gray Trex boards.
Carol May, HOH Executive Director, said the core group was 15 Glastonbury Rotarians. Highland Park market provided sandwiches for lunch, and Connecticut Carpenters Local 326 volunteers were among the last to leave. May pegged the donations from area businesses, materials, and volunteer labor at $15,000.
“We sure needed it, the house needed it,” said Amorette, “and we are so very grateful.” Joshua was especially grateful to have so many there, lending a hand. Capping the day off at noon was an appreciation ceremony complete with Pledge of Allegiance, a flag presentation and the Hights’ story. Ed Cutter of Windsor showed up with a bench for the Hights after reading about the event earlier Saturday morning. Cutter specializes in reclaiming cast-off old wrought iron benches, sandblasting the sides, and rebuilding them with new materials. He carefully paints them red, white and blue, and then installs a badge representing the veterans’ branch of service on the back next to a brass “Thank You for Serving” plaque. Two service badges, the Navy and Army, decorate the Hights bench as they became the 144th and 145th veterans fourth and fifth in East Hartford – served by the House of Heroes in Connecticut.
The project followed a year of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. House of Heroes Connecticut, a 501(c)(3) non-profit veterans service organization founded in 2012, recognizes, honors and serves military and public safety veterans and/or their surviving spouses for their sacrificial service to America. The organization provides one-day, no-cost home improvements with a priority placed on safety and accessibility. The Connecticut Chapter is part of a national organization based in Columbus, Georgia that has served more than 1,000 veterans nationwide.
FMI about House of Heroes, to nominate a veteran, to sponsor or volunteer or to donate visit www.hohct.org.
